On March 8 Nintendo live streamed the latest Nintendo Direct, showcasing upcoming Nintendo 3DS and Switch games, DLC, and amiibo, including one major reveal teased at the end – Super Smash Bros.
Here are the highlights from the March 2018 Nintendo Direct.
Nintendo 3DS
The Nintendo Direct opened with five minutes of Nintendo 3DS games. Some have speculated what fate awaits Nintendo’s handheld, considering the Switch also doubles as a handheld gaming device. The lineup this year, at least according to the Direct, is sparse.
WarioWare Gold features a bunch of goofy minigames, coming August 3. Dillon’s Dead-Heat Breakers features racing and tower defense. You can also add you and your friends animalized Mii characters. A demo is coming May 10, with the full game coming May 24. The 3DS remake of Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story won’t arrive until next year.
Detective Pikachu features a weirdly talking Pikachu in an adventure game. The game and a large Detective Pikachu amiibo are arriving March 23.
A port of Luigi’s Mansion is coming out this year for Nintendo 3DS. The original game was a lunch title for the Nintendo GameCube in 2001.
Nintendo Switch
This year is the first full year with the Nintendo Switch. It’s no surprise that the majority of the Direct was dedicated to upcoming Switch games and DLC.
Kirby’s biggest villains can join his team as Dream Allies in Kirby Star Allies, which launches next week, March 16. King Dedede, Meta-Knight and Bandana Waddle Dee can join the team. More dream friends from previous Kirby games will be added as post-launch DLC. A demo is available now.
The Switch remaster of Okami will feature both touch screen controls and Joy-Con motion controls to paint the world and activate magic abilities. It’s coming this summer.
Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido looks like a ridiculously dramatic, very anime sushi-flinging arcade game. It’s out June 8, and features online multiplayer.
Two new protagonists were revealed for Octopath Traveler, the upcoming retro-styled RPG by Square Enix. Tressa is a Merchant class, who can purchase items. Alfyn is an Alchemist, who can inquire more information from people he meets. The new gameplay video also revealed a dual-job system, that lets you equip two different jobs on a character, giving you more abilities in combat. Finally we also got an official release date: July 13, and a spiffy special edition, featuring a soundtrack CD, pop-up diorama, and map. A demo is available now.
Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes features seven different action-arcade games for Travis Touchdown to swing his sword around in. It’s coming later this year, and will include two player co-op.
With Dark Souls: Remastered arriving on Nintendo Switch comes a new amiibo: Solaire of Astora. When used in game, this amiibo lets your character perform the Praise the Sun pose “with reckless abandon.” A network beta test will be available before launch, which is May 25.
We got a lengthy look at Mario Tennis Aces, including detailed explanations of various shots, blocks, and energy gauge management. You can even destroy your opponent’s racket (or lose your own) if you miss-time too many shots. Online multiplayer features tournament brackets. And you can use your Joy-Con as a motion controlled tennis racket. Mario Tennis Aces is coming June 22, with a pre-launch online tournament coming sometime before.
Another great Wii U game, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, is coming to Nintendo Switch. The new Switch version includes levels inspired by Super Mario Odyssey, including New Donk City. By splitting the Joy-Con, two players can play together. Captain Toad comes to Switch July 13.
Ubisoft’s South Park: The Fractured But Whole is coming to Nintendo Switch on April 24. DLC must be purchased separately, or as part of the season pass.
April will see a big 3.0 update to Splatoon 2, with over 100 new items, new stages, and a new Rank X for Ranked Mode. Nintendo also presented a trailer for the upcoming Splatoon 2 expansion DLC, Octo Expansion, which features a new Splatoon character called Agent Eight. It’s a single player adventure, and when completed you can join multiplayer matches as an octoling. The Octo Expansion is launching this summer for $19.99.
Finally, as is custom, Nintendo closed out the Direct with a big teaser trailer. At first it looks like another Splatoon video, but then the warring squid kids stop to behold the fiery Smash Bros. logo, and we see shadowy glimpses of Mario and Link. The title reveals Super Smash Bros., and teases a 2018 release date.
